To Heal a Soul
by Water-smurf
Summary: Movieverse When a suicide victim searches desperately for help, she comes across an emergency vehicle, and the person it is may just be the help she needs.
1. Healing

'_Stupid… Stupid… Stupid… Stupid…'_ the word kept on repeating like a dull mantra in her head. She barely felt the pressure on her arms; she barely felt the rain pound on her skin, and she barely felt the persistent blood flow dripping from her wrists to the very tips of her fingers where they fell onto the ground below.

She stumbled through the slippery mud. She shoved her way past a caution sign. She needed help badly. She had to find something, _anything_, to help her stop the blood flow. Her clumsy tourniquet wouldn't help for long, and it was too dark for someone to come looking for her at this time.

Darkness was edging her vision. Only the combination of fear and determination was keeping unconsciousness at bay. Her feet slid on the mud and she fell face-first.

The cold mud was soothing. For a moment she was tempted to allow the blood to continue flowing and let her into its icy world of oblivion, but the moment past. She clumsily got up from the ground and kept walking through the mud in hopes of salvation.

Almost as though to answer her prayers, she caught sight of an apparently abandoned emergency vehicle. She wondered how an emergency vehicle got on a virtually uncharted dirt road, but she decided not to look the gift horse in the mouth.

She stumbled to the back of the vehicle and fumbled with the door. "Come on… Please… Come on…" she murmured, and the door clicked open.

She was too busy getting into the ambulance to notice the headlights flicker on briefly.

She didn't pay attention to the fact that the overhead light on the ceiling of the truck was on. She fumbled with her very numb hands with the drawers inside, trying to find a bandage of some sort. It was hard, considering the fact she couldn't feel her fingers, or her hands for that matter. She opened the cabinet none too gently and scrabbled for the materials within.

She stiffened at the sound of someone clearing their throat. "What are you doing?" a male voice asked. She turned towards the door adjoining the front of the ambulance to the back, and she saw a man standing there.

He seemed to be in his mid-thirties, maybe younger. He had short brown hair and a lean body. His eyes were amazing, though perhaps amazing wasn't the word for them. Perhaps the right word for them would be scary. They were almost inhumanly blue, and something in them seem much more ancient then the man appeared to be.

The teenage girl blushed slightly when she realized she was staring. She looked down to the ground and fixed her gaze on the puddle of water and blood she was making on the floor. The little demons of darkness still edged her vision, and she could swear it was getting harder to keep them abated.

"Well?" the man asked. She could feel his eyes going down to the puddle of blood on the floor, then to her wrists.

"I was looking for a bandage," she murmured. The man quietly opened one of the many drawers.

"It will take more then bandages to fix that. Sit down and let me see the wound," he said, taking out some materials. She obediently sat cross-legged on the floor and held out her arms, taking note that her fingers now seemed to have taken on an interesting shade of purple.

The man sat across from her and took both wrists. His hands were surprisingly soft and gentle. He looked at the ribbons tied tightly a little above the elbows.

"Your circulation is cut off severely. You realize that can cause you to lose both arms, correct?" he asked, taking out a cotton ball and some rubbing alcohol. The teenager shrugged.

"It was better than bleeding out," she muttered. The man glanced at her face. Again, she felt herself blush. She was probably a damn sight to see! Torn up clothes, caking mud in her black hair, dirt streaked across her face, and dull brown eyes to boot. The man didn't seem to mind and rubbed away the caked blood around her wound, and pressing the cotton ball hard against the places that hadn't stopped bleeding. She hissed slightly at the stinging pain.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"I'm Stacey. What's yours?" she asked.

"My name is Ratchet," he said. She raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn't comment. He frowned slightly at the slashes on her wrists.

"These wounds… There aren't any bruises to show that you were held down while this happened…" he looked up at her, "Suicide?"

Stacey grit her teeth and looked away. "It's my life, I can end it when I damn well want to," she muttered.

"Yet you still looked too staunch the blood flow when you were done," he commented. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"I was too much of a coward to face death, so I hightailed it towards the nearest place I could get, hence," she gestured with her head around the vehicle, "Our little meeting."

Ratchet examined her wrists a little more carefully. "You were too much of a coward to face death, or was it your saving grace to attempt to carry on?" he asked, wiping it with more alcohol. Stacy sighed.

"I don't really know which it is," she said. Ratchet looked up at her again.

"I'll need to stitch them up, but I'm afraid I don't have any anesthesia," he said. Stacey shrugged.

"I don't have any choice. Fire up the needle," she said with dark humor. Ratchet gave one last swipe of the cotton ball and opened a drawer next to him. He brought out a needle and some surgical thread. She winced as he started sewing her skin.

"If you don't mind me asking, why?" he said. Stacy pursed her lips.

"What? Ya don't think a girl can say 'to hell with it all' and kill herself?" she asked. Ratchet raised an eyebrow and she deflated under his gaze.

"I'm pregnant, dammit," she muttered, looking at the ground. There was a lengthy silence, during which the needle stopped sewing her skin. When she couldn't resist anymore, Stacy risked a glance at Ratchet. His face showed total and complete stunned shock.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

"I'm pregnant," she said. Ratchet stared at her for a long moment.

"Aren't you a little… young?" he asked. Apparently he hadn't dealt with a lot of pregnant women in the past. Stacey sighed.

"Yeah, that's the problem. Too young and too poor," she muttered. Ratchet seemed to be going through an internal argument. He began sewing her skin again.

"Why isn't your mate with you then? Isn't he helping you?" Ratchet asked. Despite the situation, Stacey nearly laughed out loud at the sheer confusion on Ratchet's face.

"Naw, he ain't helping me," she said. Ratchet cocked his eyebrow, an expression that clearly said 'explain.' Stacey sighed again.

"My mom warned me 'bout this. She said that I'd go get myself pregnant if I continued going around the way I did. Sad thing is, as much as I wish I could say it was all my dates fault, it wasn't. We got ourselves drunk, we had sex all night, and a week and a half later I found that I was pregnant," her tone became bitter, "I was sixteen, dammit! My family has trouble making ends meet as it is, and abortion is too expensive because none of the local hospitals will provide it, so that's out of the question. I get attached to people really easy, too. So as soon as I see the kid I'm carrying, I'm never going to be able to let 'em go. As soon as my date found out he was going to be a dad, he high tailed out of the relationship and cut all connections with me. He won't even give me a lousy check to help out with an abortion. So I'm stuck here," she said bitterly. Ratchet seemed to be wrestling with the idea her mate would just abandon her like that. He shook his head.

"I don't believe I can honestly say I have an idea of what you're going through. I have never been in this situation, nor have I known someone in it up until now. I do know one thing however," he tied the knot to the thread in the last wrist and cut the rest of the thread off, leaving it to the side. He put his hand on her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. "I've been a medic for a war for longer than you have been alive. While I've been in that war, I've seen some stupid ways for soldiers to get themselves injured, and or killed. Now, trying to take your own life when you can just try to pick up the pieces happens to be one of them. I'm not going to minimize the magnitude of your plight, but I've seen a soldier who had his entire home town burned before his eyes, and he still was able to continue on. You were given a gift, the day you were born. Don't throw it away," he said.

His words seemed to break the dam in Stacy's heart and mind. She smiled, pressed her head into Ratchet's shoulder, and cried. She actually cried. It was a real cry, the kind that someone does only when they really need it; it was the kind that healed their soul.

Ratchet seemed uncertain as to what he should do. Finally deciding on something, he wrapped his arms around the crying female and rubbed circles in her back. Sometimes, medics were called upon to heal more then the physical wounds. This happens to be one of those times.

Stacy suddenly felt like a little girl again, seeking comfort from her father after a particularly scary nightmare. It struck her how odd it was that she would pour herself out to a complete stranger, but she supposed this wasn't exactly a conventional situation. When she finally cried herself out, she straightened and smiled a little.

"Heh, sorry 'bout that. I bet you don't have random girls crying on you often," she said. Ratchet waved away her apology.

"You have nothing to apologize about," he said gruffly. He untied the tourniquets on her arms.

"You're lucky you found me when you did. Any later and you would've lost your arms at the very least. As it is, it will be a while until you regain full control over them," he said. He wrapped her newly stitched up wrists in some bandages.

They both stood up, and Stacy happily noted that it didn't feel like she would fall over unconscious anymore. Ratchet rifled through one of the drawers and brought out a clean set of clothing.

"Change out of those wet clothes, otherwise you'll get sick," he said. Putting the clothes on the bed and putting a small towel next to them. He politely turned away as she took off her clothes and dried herself off with the towel. She mentally promised herself that she would take a nice warm bath when she got home.

She vaguely noted that the heat had suddenly been turned on. She pulled on the shirt and pants.

"Okay, you can turn around now," she said. Ratchet turned around and gave her an once-over with his eyes.

"It seems as though you have no more open wounds in need of attendance," he said. Satisfied, he smiled slightly. He unlocked the back doors, (Stacy didn't notice they were closed or locked,) and opened them wide.

There was a colorful lightshow of a sunrise. Pinks, reds, purples, and yellows were splashed across the horizon generously as the orange ball that was the sun peeked out of its hiding place for the night.

Stacey smiled at the sunrise and what it symbolized. It really was a beginning.

She and Ratchet sat in a comfortable silence for a while. Neither felt the need to break it, and they just enjoyed nature's colorful painting. After a minute, Ratchet turned to the teenager.

"Do you want me to drive you to your home?" he asked. Stacey smiled and shook her head.

"No thank you. I don't want to impose anymore than I have. Besides, I think a walk would help clear my head," she said. Ratchet raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm not going to cut myself again," she answered the unasked question. Ratchet nodded.

"Good. I don't want to save you just to learn you killed yourself the minute I turned my back," he said. Stacey cocked her head slightly.

"Do you think we'll meet again?" she asked. A smile played over Ratchet's lips.

"Call it a feeling, but I'm positive we shall meet again," he said. Stacey smiled.

"That's good." She kissed his cheek. "Few people would help out a suicidal and pregnant teen. Thanks a bunch."

She winked and jumped out of the truck, disappearing down the road. Ratchet touched the place where she kissed him lightly.

"Yes, we will meet again, Stacey," he murmured, and the hologram flickered out of view.

A/N

Well, this was inspired by Doors to Let Out Life by CoraxOnyx. Just thought I should add that in. This is my first oneshot, so I hope you all liked it. (I was thinking of turning it into a twoshot, opinions, anyone?) Review, please.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own them.


	2. Finding

Warning: There is some language in this chapter. You've been warned. ;-)

Light cascaded through the kitchen window. The sunlight was so bright that there was no need for the electric lights to be on. Stacey sat at the table, staring out the window but not exactly seeing the birds flying into the branches of the suburban trees. She had dreamt that dream again. She had dreamt of that night that saved and renewed her life. Something of a phoenix-like night if you will.

It had been a few years since that night. Six, soon to be seven years, actually. She was still able to remember every detail of it. Maybe it was because he had saved her life.

She hadn't seen Ratchet, not since then. Sure, when she was being driven to the hospital in an ambulance she thought she heard him whispering words of encouragement. She knew she must've just imagined it in her pain. She had asked the nurses, and there wasn't anyone working there that had gone by the name 'Ratchet.'

Her little daughter knew the story, though. Of course, it was a more child-friendly version. Stacey wasn't planning on telling her the cold, hard, not sugarcoated facts until she was old enough to really understand it.

Stacey shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts. It was unlikely she'd ever be able to forget that night, but she needn't dwell on it. She heard the front door open and close, and the sounds of small footsteps announced the arrival of Lily, her daughter.

Stacey smiled and stood from the table. A small head peered from the doorway.

"Well come on, don't I get a greeting?" Stacey asked, holding her arms wide. The child giggled, and tackled her mother in a hug.

Stacey examined the girl in her arms fondly. She had brown hair and pretty blue eyes. "How was your day, angel?" she asked. Lily looked up at her mother with a big grin.

"Mrs. Orphal told us that we're going to make an art project this week! It's going to have everything, sparkles, paste, paint, those colorful feathers…" Lily chattered happily. Stacey let her daughter go.

"Why don't I take out some cookies and you can tell me over them?" she said, grabbing a small, beaten up Christmas-style cookie tin on the shelf. She set it on the table and, with a hand quick as lightning, Lily snatched a cookie from the container and munched it happily.

Lily chattered on and on about her day. Stacey smiled at her daughter's antics. Soon, the cookie tin was down to one.

"Oh! And we learned a new game today," Lily said, taking the last cookie. "It's like hide and seek, but there's a home base, where you can't get tagged. If you get to home base before the other person finds you, you win! You make the home base by marking it. It could be a fence with a ribbon on it, or a house with a splash of blue paint… Can we play, Mommy? Can we?" Lily asked, puppy eyes going up to full-blast. Stacey chuckled. It was weird how different people were around their own children.

"Okay, but what'll we use for our home base?" she asked. Lily's face screwed up in deep thought.

"Oh! I know!" she said, snapping out of the trance. "We could go into the woods out back. We could put duct tape on the trunk of a really really big tree in the middle of the woods where little elves will watch us play!" she said, allowing her imagination to run away with her. (Again…)

Stacey smiled and stood from the table. "Okay, let me just get the duct tape."

Lily jumped up enthusiastically and scurried out the door. She was soon followed by her mother.

Lily was bouncing up and down by the time they went into the woods, but when they went inside, she quieted in awe.

Honestly, it wasn't surprising. The forest was rather awe-inspiring. The trees towered over the two females majestically, and the wind caused the beams of light showing through the trees to move and disappear in a sort of dance only nature was capable of. The wind rushing through the leaves and branches made something like music, and for a moment, Stacey really believed that elves and fairies lived here. How else could a place be so magical?

Stacey wished she didn't have to, but she shook off the feeling. They were getting deeper in the woods and she had to remember which way was back home.

Suddenly, a horrible screeching sound echoed through the woods, shattering the peaceful atmosphere. It sounded like the sound of metal against metal, followed closely by something that sounded suspiciously like a cry of pain.

Stacey and Lily looked at each other for a moment before they dashed towards the sound. Clashes of metal against metal reverberated across the forest. Finally, they got to a clearing, and Stacey gripped Lily to keep her from running out there.

Stacey clapped her hands over Lily's ears. "Holy freaking shit!" she said as soon as she was sure her daughter couldn't hear her.

Two robots were fighting each other. Two big-ass robots were fighting. Stacey nearly fainted right there.

One robot looked a good deal more damaged then the other. The damaged one had blue liquid trailing from a gaping hole in its side, and it seemed to have a yellow paint job with what Stacey assumed to be scattered stripes of red. The other was a big black and white robot, and somehow its movements seemed more practiced. Wow. Not only did they come across two robots, but they were also human enough to have different skill levels of fighting. Next thing you knew they would have sentient robot doctors.

The black and white robot slammed a fist into the shoulder of the yellow robot. It let out a grunt of pain, but it lashed out with something sharp in its hands. The black and white robot recoiled with a brand-new slash across its chassis.

The robot kicked out with a leg, and the knee joint of the yellow robot was out. Without anything to support it, the yellow robot fell to the ground, causing the earth under him to shake.

"That's for Megatron, Autobot. It will be easier for the Decepticons if you aren't there to put the rest of the Autobots back together again," the black and white robot hissed, and, with a gun built in its arm, it shot the other robots last remaining knee, rendering it completely cripple.

"Bleed to death on the ground. You won't get a message to the rest of the Autobots now," it said. The yellow robot growled at it defiantly, then the black and white robot disappeared in the forest.

The yellow robot seemed to try to fumble for something in a small compartment on its leg, but its arms soon were out of action. It lay on the ground, seemingly defeated.

Stacey didn't know what made her do it. She slowly edged out of the woods, towards the robot. Had she been in her right mind she would've run the opposite direction as fast as her legs could carry her, but there was something disturbingly familiar about this robot. Lily watched her mother curiously, as if not quite sure what she should do.

"Hello?" Stacey asked hesitantly. The robot turned its head towards her, confusion evident in its metallic face. She didn't dare look it in the face, though.

"Hello…?" she asked again.

"Help… me…" it murmured, then it went limp. Stacey glanced at its face just before it went offline. She recognized his voice. It was the same voice that told her to not throw away her life. It was the same voice that comforted her when she was crying on his shoulder. And the eyes… There was no forgetting that almost glowing shade of blue. She didn't know if she was imagining the familiarity or not, but she wasn't taking the chance.

She looked at the rip at the robot's side. A couple of important-looking pipes were ripped and leaking blue fluid. Suddenly she was really happy she had to take that part-time job at the car garage all those years ago.

She ducked out of the hole and turned to her daughter. She knelt in front of her and gripped both shoulders with her hands.

"Angel, you need to run back to the house and get grandpa's old toolbox and bring it back here, now!" Stacey said. Lily looked up worriedly.

"But mommy…" she started.

"Please, run my little angel. Run like the wind. I don't know how long the robot will hold," she said. Lily bit her lip and nodded, and then she dashed into the woods with the grace of an elk in her desperation.

Stacey ducked into the tear again and ripped a piece of duct tape off of the roll and taped up the worst tears to hold until Lily could get back. She noticed how the fluid seemed to be burning her hands a little, but at the moment she didn't really care.

"Mommy! I got it!" Lily's voice called from the outside. Stacey scurried out of the rip and took the toolbox from her daughter. Running back into the tear, she strapped on a pair of goggles and took off the duct tape on one of the pipes off, and started attempting to weld it closed.

Sparks flew from the metal, and Stacey worried that her scant knowledge of machinery wouldn't be enough. It had been a long time since she worked at the garage, and she didn't even work there for that long. Well, scant knowledge is better than no knowledge, she supposed. At least she could say she tried.

Stacey heard the beat of what she assumed was a robotic heart. The reassuring beat calmed her down slightly, and she set diligently to her work with new resolve.

Outside, Lily was sitting on the grass. She let her eyes wonder down the robot's body. The face was surprisingly human, as was the general design. She gazed at its legs sadly. The knees weren't bleeding blue fluid, but it was obvious the robot wouldn't be able to walk when he woke up. Lily didn't know why, but she had dubbed the robot a he. She sighed and rested her head on her knees, listening to her mother's welding inside the robot. Lily was afraid. She was afraid the other robot would come back, or this one would turn out to be evil, but seeing the pathetic state it was in, it was hard to see the robot as a threat. And Lily's innocent child's state of mind wouldn't allow her to view this wounded creature as a bad guy.

She must've fallen asleep, because when she opened her eyes again, it was dark and the stars were out. A clatter from inside the robot had woken her up. Lily looked up to see her mother stumble out of the robot, toolbox in hand and weariness in her face. Blue liquid was all over her hands, legs, and some dots on her face. When the liquid dripped off, Lily saw angry red sores on wherever the liquid had been.

"Mommy, do you know this wobot?" Lily asked. Stacey wiped away the painful blue liquid.

"I think a did. A long time ago. But that is not important now. He'll wake up soon, with any luck," Stacey murmured. She looked at Lily square in the eye. "It is beginning to get late now. Go back to the house, lock all the windows and doors, and go to bed. I'm going to watch him."

"How will you get back inside, Mommy?" Lily asked. Stacey flashed a key with a cute apple key ring.

"I have the house keys," she said plainly. Lily nodded, deciding not to question her mother further, and disappeared into the woods.

Stacey sighed, and now that her daughter was gone, she allowed her full weariness to show through. She looked at the apparently sleeping robot behind her.

"I don't know why I think it's you, after all, the one who saved me was human. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I'll find out when you wake." She sighed again and slumped to the ground, not bothering with the harmful liquid that was still drying on her skin. "Sleep well."

A/N

Drat, it's snowballing. I blame the reviewers for encouraging me. :-b Oh well, more to write, I suppose. Hope it wasn't rushed. Review please!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Ratchet OR Barricade and lawyers will get nothing out of suing me because I have no money to give, so nyah!


	3. Talking

Stacey woke up to a soft groan from the robot. She also found herself curled up next to him. She quickly stood up and bushed herself off, ignoring the much more painful twinge from the blue blood-induced sores, or the fact she couldn't seem to bend her hands properly. She vaguely noted she had probably only been asleep for an hour or so, judging by the dark sky. She looked up at the robot's gargantuan face, and saw his eyes, (optics? Stacey wondered,) flicker on. The robot seemed to take a moment to gather itself.

"What happened?" he asked in that eerily familiar voice.

"You had the crap beaten out of you by some black and white robot," Stacey said matter-of-factly. The robot focused on her and struggled to sit up.

"Who are you? And if I remember things correctly, how am I alive?" he asked, somewhat guardedly. Stacey cocked an eyebrow.

"I can ask the same question. I welded the pipes inside of you shut, and my name is Stacey," she said. She saw an unknown expression flit across the robot's face. Funny, now giant robots had expressions. Reality was crumbling as she knew it.

"Stacey?…" he said asked, as though he thought he hadn't heard her correctly. His optics narrowed slightly. "My name is Ratchet."

Stacey couldn't breath. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. The shade of eyes, the voice, and now the name? It was too much to be a coincidence. Could this robot be the one who saved her all those years ago?

"I'm judging by your expression that you are indeed the Stacey I met," the robot Ratchet said. Okaaaay, so this robot WAS the one who saved her all those years ago…

"Ratchet?" she finally managed, her voice so tight even she could barely hear it. Ratchet nodded.

"It's me," he said. There was a long moment of silence.

"Holy shit," Stacey said, and her legs promptly gave out on her. Ratchet worriedly reached out a hand to her.

"How were you human and now you're a robot?" she asked semi-shakily. Ratchet's optics dimmed, and a hologram flickered into view. Stacey stared. And stared. And stared. And stared.

It was a perfect replica of the Ratchet she knew, down to the exact skin tone and clothes. The hologram reached a hand out to her, and after a moments hesitation, she took his hand and let him help her up.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," she said. Ratchet gave her an once-over with his eyes.

"Not before we get that energon off you. It's eating away at your skin as we speak. Come on, there's a lake just through the trees, we can talk there," he said, gently yet firmly leading Stacey towards the trees.

"But what about your body?" she asked. Ratchet shook his head.

"Barricade will have considered me dead by now. No one will come after it yet," he said, and after that Stacey didn't fight him as he lead her through the trees, and as promised, a small abandoned lake.

She looked at him curiously. "How did you know that this was here?" she asked.

"Sensors. Can you move your arms?" he asked.

"Of course I can-" she stopped to his in pain as she tried to bend her elbows. "Okay, no I can't."

Ratchet nodded gravely. "You've let the energon stay there too long. It's causing your muscles to stiffen. I'm going to have to help you wash it off."

Stacey blushed bright red. "I can wash myself off, thanks!" she said. Stacey tried getting her shirt off without bending her elbows, or wrists, or fingers, but it seemed as though the stiffening had spread to her shoulders. Ratchet rolled his eyes and leaned against a tree, muttering something about humans being too easily embarrassed and prideful, and Stacey thought she caught him saying something like 'just like the twins,' whoever the twins were. Finally, she stopped the one-sided wrestling match with her shirt.

"Okay, I give up. Help, please?" she asked. Ratchet rolled his eyes again and helped her take her clothes off and bringing her into the lake. She shivered a little at the feeling of the cold water on her skin, though she heated up quickly from her blush. Ratchet helped wash off the energon from her arm and worked his way up it, across her shoulders and down the other arm. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was a doctor or the fact he was a robot but he didn't seem embarrassed at all by the situation. He gently messaged the kinks out of her stiffened muscles.

When he finished with her hands, shoulders, and arms Stacey bent them experimentally.

"Okay, I think I can do the rest," she said. Ratchet nodded and drew his hands out from the water and respectfully turned away while she washed the rest of the energon off.

"Wait a moment," he said and he walked back into the trees. Stacey patiently waited in the water for him. He came back out of the trees soon after a lay down a towel and a pair of clean clothes. Stacey laughed a little.

"Just like last time," she said. Ratchet smirked slightly and nodded.

"Yes, just like last time. You should start taking better care of yourself, I won't always be there to help," he said seriously.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll try to stop getting myself injured," Stacey said, rolling her eyes. He turned away and she stepped out of the lake, quickly drying herself off and putting on the clothes.

"Okay, you can turn around now," she said, pursing her lips a little at the déjà vu feeling that overcame her for a moment. Ratchet turned around and checked Stacey's nice collection of angry red sores, blood blisters, and burns on her skin. Ratchet murmured something about not needing immediate attention but he kept an eye trained on them just incase.

He sat against the tree and Stacey sat next to him. They stared at each other for a moment, both trying to figure out which question to ask first. Finally, Stacey broke the silence.

"What are you going to do about your body? From what I saw, you aren't going to be walking anytime soon," she said. Ratchet sighed.

"Indeed. The others will be worried, and they will go looking for me soon. Sadly, I cannot repair myself even with my hologram and your help. My legs are simply too heavy for the both of us to lift and reconnect. Barricade sent a jammer through this area, so I won't be able to contact the others. We will just have to wait until they find me," he said. Stacey frowned a little.

"'The others?' How many of you are there? What are you, for that matter?" Stacey asked. Ratchet sighed.

"First of all, I am a transformer from the planet Cybertron. I was a medic, but I and many others were sucked into a civil war between two factions known as the Autobots and the Decepticons…"

Stacey listened intently to his explanations, doing her very best to not interrupt. Ratchet was a good storyteller. When he finished, he looked to her.

"I believe it is now your turn. What happened to you after we met?" he asked. Stacey smirked a little.

"There's not much to tell. My family did their best, but in the end we couldn't raise enough travel money to get the abortion, so I ended up having my child. After that, I had to drop out of high school and start taking up several part-time jobs at once to help my family take care of my daughter as well. That's pretty much been all my life it so far," she said. Ratchet seemed saddened slightly.

"I'm sorry you had to leave school. I find it unfair that you had to leave just because you didn't have enough currency," he said. Stacey shook her head a little.

"That's how our planet works. It doesn't matter if you didn't do anything but be born, if you don't have money, you ain't goin' to get anything out of life," she said. Ratchet shook his head and put a hand on her shoulder, the only form of comfort that seemed appropriate at the moment. He cocked his head slightly.

"What is your daughter's name?" he asked. Stacey blushed a little.

"Her name's Lily Ratchet Mason," she mumbled. Ratchet's hologram blushed slightly.

"My name…" he murmured. Stacey nodded.

"Well, it seemed appropriate at the time. If it weren't for you, neither she nor I would be around now," she said, averting her gaze. Ratchet smiled slightly.

"I'm honored," he said. She blushed a little more and stood up.

"Speaking of Lily, I think we should get to my house. My parents are out of town for a week or so and you're going to have to stay somewhere," she winked. "It's the least I can do."

Ratchet smiled slightly and followed her through the woods. He once tried to warn her of the possibility of decepticons coming after her for her help, but she stopped his protests with another 'it's the least I can do.'

As the trees thinned out her house came into view. Moonlight washed over the dew-covered ground, giving everything a surreal look to it. Stacey quietly let them through the back door.

They came out into the living room. The room was thrown into relief from the light of the dying embers in the fireplace. Stacey remembered starting the fire that afternoon; Lily must've added some logs when she came home. Speaking of her daughter…

Stacey and Ratchet spotted the little girl sleeping on the couch; apparently she had waited for her mother and fallen asleep. She looked positively adorable. Stacey absently stroked her sleeping daughter's hair.

"Well, there you have it. Though I thought she'd be awake when I'd introduce her, this works just as well," she said, glancing at Ratchet's expression. His face seemed softer than she usually saw him. Stacey looked back down to her daughter.

"Do you mind helping me carry her to her room? She's too heavy for me…" Stacey trailed off. With gentleness only a doctor possessed, he picked up the small child and Stacey led him to Lily's room. Ratchet quietly laid the child on the bed and both of them retreated from the room.

Both of them walked back to the living room and settled into the chairs, staring into the fire. Stacey tried to stifle a yawn, but Ratchet wasn't fooled.

"Go and get some sleep. I will stay up," he said. Stacey cocked her head.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" she asked. Ratchet shook his head.

"While my hologram is up my body is half-way in recharge. I don't need to eat or sleep. I'm afraid I won't be able to do much for your skin. It will need to heal on its own. Now go to bed before I strap you down," he said. Stacey chuckled a little, and after another stifled yawn, she walked upstairs to her room and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

A/N

As you all can see, this story is rapidly evolving. This will probably have some RatchetxStacy in it, so you've been warned. Thanks go to Frog1, who let me use the idea of making Lily have Ratchet as a middle name. Kudos to you! And kudos to all those nice reviewers out there. Review please!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize, or I'd be rich. As much as I wish I were rich, I'm not. :-(


	4. Introducing

A/N: This chapter is mostly filler, Ratchet meets Lily, little character developement on Lily's part, and an effect of the energon revealed.

Stacey's eyes fluttered open slowly, and then she closed them again. However, when she remembered who was staying at her house, her eyes shot open again.

She quickly jumped out of bed, and just as quickly hissed in pain. Her damaged skin now looked like a combination of red, yellow, and purple with some unhealthy grin mixed in. That could not be good.

She hissed with each movement of her joints as she slowly made her way through her door and down the stairs. The sun was barely above the horizon, so Lily probably wasn't awake yet.

With a great deal of under-the-breath cursing, Stacey managed to shuffle downstairs and step into the living room.

The embers had long-since died, and Ratchet previously had been staring at the empty fireplace thoughtfully. Though when the obviously injured and in pain Stacey came through the door, he stood up worriedly.

"Stacey? What happened?" he asked, quickly making his way next to her and started to examine her skin.

"Any chance that we missed some of that, what'd you call it? Oh yeah, energon," she said, wincing slightly at his hands touching the sensitive skin. He gave her a slight glare.

"Stop twitching!" he changed his tone. "I suppose there is a chance, though I think it more likely that the energon had worse effects on you than we first thought. I haven't quite encountered a case like this before, though I think I have an idea on how to treat it."

Ratchet helped her sit in the chair and walked out of the room, only to come back quickly with various minor medical supplies in his arms. Stacey was not going to bother asking him how he found the first aid kit.

He grumbled something about Stacey never being able to keep herself from getting injured and gave her some Neosporin, and his grumbling quickly went to 'primitive earth medicine.'

Stacey rolled her eyes and rubbed the Neosporin into her damaged skin, and the sting and stiffness was reduced almost immediately.

"Your skin absorbed some of the energon, and while your body will work it out in a day or two, you will suffer from pain and stiffness until that happens," Ratchet listed. Stacey sighed.

"I get it, I get it," she muttered.

"Mommy? Who's this?" a childlike voice asked. Both Ratchet and Stacey stiffened and looked to the doorway where stood Lily biting the tip of her thumb nervously.

The Cybertronian and the human exchanged glances. "This… is a friend of mine," Stacey said.

"What is your name mister?" Lily asked. Ratchet looked at the little girl with curious eyes.

"My name is Ratchet," he said.

"Oh cool! My middle name's Ratchet," Lily said, smiling widely. A ghost of a grin flitted across Ratchet's lips.

"So I heard," he said. Then it seemed as though something struck Lily.

"Mommy? What happened to the wobot?" she asked concernedly. Stacey ruffled Lily's hair.

"He's getting better, angel. He's getting better," she said. Lily brightened.

"That's good," she said. She shuffled into the kitchen presumably to make some cereal for herself. Ratchet and Stacey stared after her for a moment.

"She's energetic," Ratchet said when he realized Stacey wasn't going to say anything. Stacey nodded a little.

"Mmm hmm," she said, and they lapsed into silence again. Stacey settled into the couch more comfortably and gestured for Ratchet to sit next to her. Ratchet complied and she positioned herself so that they were facing each other.

"What was Cybertron like, before the war?" she asked. Ratchet's mouth quirked into a smile.

"Make yourself comfortable and I'll tell you about it."

Meanwhile, Lily leaned against the wall just next to the doorway. She grinned a little to herself.

"_Finally!_" she breathed. She may've been young, but the fact she goes to a crowded public school with a high school class eating lunch with her class regularly made her realize things that one her age didn't usually realize, like the fact her mother hadn't had a male she cared about, besides Lily's grandpa, since she was born. The fact she seemed very comfortable around Ratchet was encouraging for the young girl. (Even though she didn't have much of a clue about what they were talking about.)

She smiled to herself and walked into the kitchen to make some cereal for herself. No, she was too young to really know what it means to be in a relationship, but she knew this: a mother with a kind male figure in her life was happier. So far, Ratchet fit the bill.

Lily smiled with a hint of child-like devilishness. Oh yes, this could get interesting.

A/N

Bwaha, I thought I should give Lily a hint more personality than she was getting. (Just to tell you, she DOES NOT know about things like sex and all that, she just more aware of how mothers usually should have boyfriends/husbands and she's still is too innocent to realize that sometimes feelings for the opposite gender don't go like that. (She's an innocent little girl with too much information. God help us all.) Review please!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, zip, zilch, zero!


	5. Landing

It was lunchtime, and the cafeteria was filled to the brim with children and teenagers of all ages. Lily grabbed an apple from the servers and started trying to squeeze her way through the crowd, looking for a particular person.

"June? June?" she called through the crowd. Finally, the crowd seemed to dissipate when the initial rush died. Lily caught sight of her intended target and swiftly made her way to the table.

June was sixteen years old with a towering figure. She had straight hair often pulled in a tight bun and dark eyes. At the moment, she fixed those eyes on the little girl in front of her.

"What can I do for you, Mason?" she asked. Lily sat next to June and held her eyes steadily.

"I need advice on something," she said. June nodded and waved her hand.

"Go on, I'm intrigued," she said. Lily crossed her arms, taking a small bite of her apple.

"I want to set my mommy up with someone," she said. June cocked her head.

"I need statistics, girl! What does he look like? Does your mom seem to like him? Have they known each other for long?" she said. Lily took another bite of the apple.

"His name is Ratchet." And she allowed that to do the talking. June's eyes widened.

"The Ratchet you were named for, Ratchet?" she asked. Lily bit into the apple again.

"How many Ratchets do you know? Mommy only said that he saved her when she did something stupid, and I noticed that it was only a few months from my birthday when it happened. I've also noticed really faint, so faint it took me years to see them, scars on her wrists. When I met him, he was helping my mom treat some burns she got accidentally. I think he's a doctor, and he helped her when she tried to hurt herself," she said in an all business tone. (Seeing that tone with a girl like that was really odd.) June nodded thoughtfully.

"This looks promising. She even named her own daughter after him. Interesting, interesting…" June murmured, then smiled.

"Well, by the looks of things they'll fall for each other soon enough. Your mom hasn't been with a lot of people over the years, has she?"

"No, she hasn't had one boyfriend."

"Then, even if it doesn't last, her hormones won't let her stay single for long. Just nudge the both of them in the right direction, but be sure to not be too obvious about it," June said. Lily thought for a moment, and then a smile came over her face that made June feel like the girl should have horns.

"How is it," June began. "You're so damn innocent sometimes, and so evil at others?"

"I don't know. I probably have multiple personality disorder or something," she said. And with another somewhat evil smile, Lily disappeared into the crowd.

**Page break**

"Mommy! I got a new hands-on assignment today!" Lily shouted through the house, running into the living room. Ratchet and Stacey looked up from the couch.

"What's it about?" she asked. Lily grinned.

"There's going to be a meteor shower tonight. We're all supposed to watch it with our family and tell the class what we saw!" she said enthusiastically. Stacey looked at Ratchet.

"Do you want to see it?" she asked.

"They are just asteroids passing through the Earth's atmosphere briefly. Why would a teacher wish for their students to see that specifically?" Ratchet asked confusedly. Lily looked dazed.

"What?" she asked, not having been able to understand a word Ratchet said. Stacey smiled.

"They are pretty asteroids. Besides, meteor showers don't happen often. So do you want to come?" Stacey asked again. Ratchet shrugged.

"I don't see why not," he said. Lily clapped her hands together.

"Yay!" she said happily and scurried out of the room.

"She's excited," Ratchet commented. Stacey smiled.

"She's a little girl. She should be excited," she said. Ratchet glanced out the window.

"It is dark enough to see stars," he said. Stacey nodded and stood up, albeit stiffly.

"Then let's get going. I know a nice place to see it," she said. Lily scrambled down the stairs with a small pack.

"Just in case," she said, winking. Stacey chuckled at her daughter's antics and she and Lily walked outside, followed closely by Ratchet.

The stars were bright in the sky, barely obscured by the tiny sliver of moon. Stacey led them across the street into a field.

They kept walking until the street was barely in view, and they all sat down just as the first meteors starting whizzing through the sky.

Stacey shivered a little at the cold air, and Ratchet put an arm around her in an effort to warm her. She blushed but made no movement to shrug him off. Lily smiled and lay down flat on her back so she got a clearer view of the sky.

"My teacher told us that you could make a wish on a shooting star, or meteor. Make a wish!" she said cheerfully. She and Stacey closed their eyes to make a wish, then opened them again.

"Now don't tell anyone what you wished for or it won't come true," Stacey winked. Ratchet cocked his head but decided to not ask.

"Look mommy, I see the big dipper!" Lily said. Stacey looked up and spotted said constellation.

"Yes you did, can you find anything else?" she asked. Lily shook her head.

"No, the big dipper is the only one I know," Lily said ruefully. They all stared at the meteors for a long while.

"Ratchet?" Stacey asked.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Is it just me, or is one of those asteroids coming straight for us?" Stacey said apprehensively. Ratchet looked up and did see a flaming asteroid coming for them.

"Look out!" he shouted, scrambling up. The trio sprinted out of the way just in time when the asteroid crash-landed right where they were a moment ago.

At first there were only scant flames around the small crater, and then the crater exploded in what looked like a really big bonfire.

"Ouch… Maybe I shouldn't have made those modifications," someone said from inside. Lily backed away so that she was behind her mother and what looked like a giant silver-black robot dragged itself out of the fire.

"Is he good or bad?" Stacey whispered into Ratchet's ear.

"One of the best," he grinned. It was then that the robot noticed them.

"Oh cool, humans. Heh, sorry about crashing into the field. Hey wait a moment," then he looked a little panicked. "I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" he asked fearfully. Lily shook her head.

"You scared us, but I somehow think that we'll be fine," Lily said, glancing at Ratchet and Stacey. The robot looked relieved.

"That's good. Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to know where I could find a car to scan, would you?" he asked. By now the bonfire seemed to have gone down.

"Yeah, just keep hidden," Stacey said. The robot would've smiled if he had a mouth.

"Okay," he said.

The walk to the street was in silence. The robot kept his optics trained to the scenery, apparently interested in the planet he was on. Lily looked to her mother.

"Do you think he's here for his friend?" Lily asked. Ratchet raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think he knows his friend is with us or he would've mentioned it," he said. It was then that they reached the street. A passing car flashed and Stacey heard some clicks and whirrs. When she turned around she saw the robot turn into a mostly white Lancia.

"Thanks, and by the way, why didn't you freak out? My leader said that humans don't know we exist," the car said as though he just realized this. Ratchet raised an eyebrow.

"Actually I think we should talk about that," he said.

"You see, we have a friend of yours," Stacey said. The vehicle seemed to stiffen.

"Who is he and how damaged is he?" he asked. Ratchet chuckled.

"Easy Wheeljack, I'm functioning," Ratchet said.

"How do you know my name? Wait, that voice…" with a few more clicks and whirrs the robot transformed back into its original form, (which was now mostly white as well,) and went down on his hands and knees so he was face-to-face with the hologram.

"Ratchet?!" he asked. Ratchet nodded.

"It is I Wheeljack. My body is too damaged for me to use it properly, so I have been relying on my hologram. I'm glad that you are here. With your help I can get my body working again," he said. Lily looked from Wheeljack, to Ratchet, and then to her mother.

"You owe me an explanation when we get home," Lily said. Stacey nodded. Wheeljack straightened up.

"Well then lead me to your body. We should get you working soon," he said. Ratchet shook his head.

"Not tonight. Stacey and Lily need their sleep, as they haven't had any last night. You need to recharge, as I highly doubt you have in a while. I can wait until tomorrow."

"But-" Ratchet silenced Wheeljack with a glare.

"By the way, this is Stacey and Lily Mason. They saved me from dying. Stacey, Lily, meet Wheeljack, the Autobot's resident inventor," Ratchet said, nodding to everyone in turn. Wheeljack transformed back into a Lancia and his hologram flickered into existence.

His human form didn't look half bad. He had a lean body with wavy, albeit singed, black hair pulled in a loose ponytail. He had wide curious eyes that looked turquoise with a hint of deeper blue. He wore loose clothing and he looked cheerful.

"This is the first time I tried using a hologram as a human. Do you think I could pass off as one?" Wheeljack asked. The two human females glanced at him.

"Close enough," Stacey said.

"Come on, we should get home before someone asks us why there is a car so far off road," Lily said. The holograms and humans ducked into Wheeljack's alternate form and he drove through the field, on the road, and then finally into Stacey's driveway.

The two Cybertronians were speaking in a language made up of clicks, whirrs, and screeches that shouldn't have been reached by human vocal chords. Wheeljack sounded worried, at least that's what Stacey thought he sounded like. Ratchet sounded gruffer, yet reassuring.

Stacey ushered Lily to bed while Ratchet caught up with his old friend. She sat in front of the fire in the hearth tiredly. Somehow, she had a feeling something was heading their way.

A/N

Okay, sorry if that was awkward. I'm not very good at writing Ratchet, and even less so with Wheeljack because I don't know much about his character. Anyone out there who is well versed with them, the twins, and the rest of the crew on earth in the movieverse? If there is, I'm interested in a beta. Review please!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


	6. Learning

Lily opened her eyes to a slight 'boom' from downstairs. She groggily looked outside to see that it was still dark outside. She dragged herself out of bed and down the stairs with her eyes half-closed all the way.

"How do you get a toaster to explode?!" she shouted from the doorway to the kitchen. Inside, there was a sheepish Wheeljack with a wrench, some charred parts of machinery, and ash sprinkled generously across his face. He smiled sheepishly at the slightly manic and sleep-deprived girl in the pink nightgown. Lily glared at him and unconsciously started tugging at her messy bed head.

Wheeljack shifted his weight nervously. "I was only taking it apart to see how it worked. I guess I shouldn't have tried to activate the heating coils near those wires…" he said. Lily buried her face in her hands.

"Why hasn't Ratchet or your mother come over? Usually, Ratchet likes to berate me harshly when something blows up," Wheeljack said curiously. Lily looked up from her hands and glanced out the window.

"They are both talking outside. Probably another Q and A session. Mommy gets very curious about your world," Lily said, though Wheeljack noticed that her glare turned into a subtle smile. He wisely decided not to ask.

"Er, sorry about waking you up. I didn't know humans woke out of recharge so easily," he said. Lily waved off the apology.

"It's fine. I probably wouldn't have been able to stay asleep for long," she said. She brushed her nightgown off and sat cross-legged next to Wheeljack.

"Sooo… How long has this war of yours been going on?" she asked. Wheeljack thought for a moment.

"A couple thousand millennia," he said. Lily's eyes went wide.

"Wow, that's a long time," she murmured.

"Not really, some of us still remember how it was before the war began," Wheeljack said. Lily stared at him.

"How old _are_ you?" she asked. Wheeljack shrugged.

"I don't remember," he said. Lily shuffled a little.

"How can't you remember? I can remember that I'm almost seven years old…" Lily said. Wheeljack chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"Seven years is just a blink in time for an autobot. We've lived for so long, that it gets to the point that we don't remember our time as a youngling, and sometimes we don't even remember our times as young adults," he said. Lily cocked her head wonderingly.

"Wow," she said simply. Wheeljack smiled.

"Hey, you should probably go back to sleep. Ratchet said that you didn't get much sleep last night, and humans are pretty delicate," he said. Lily looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Could you tell me a story? Please?" she asked. Wheeljack's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Okay," he said. He brushed some ash off of himself and stood up. Taking the small girl's hand, he took her to her bedroom. When she was comfortably under the covers, he settled himself in a chair next to the bed.

"I'll tell you about my team and I getting the transmission from our leader, Optimus Prime, about coming to Earth. I was with a few autobots named Prowl, Blaster, Beachcomber and Perceptor…"

Lily smiled and closed her eyes, just listening to Wheeljack talking. She decided that she liked the inventor. She listened as he started to get into the story and talk animatedly about how they all flew to earth, and how their ship got thrown off course by Jupiter's gravity and they all used the escape pods to get out of reach, and how they all got separated hence.

Eventually his voice started to sound muffled, as though she were far under water. She shifted in and out of awareness, until sleep finally engulfed her.

A/N

Okay, it's short. I know. I just wanted to work a little on relationships between the characters before I start rushing through the plot. I have a bad habit of doing that, and I want to give my characters a chance to get to know each other first. (And I need to practice my Wheeljack. XP How'd I do?) Review please!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, my friends. NOTHING!


	7. Repairing

Stacey looked at the coffee dregs swirl lazily in her cup. She didn't say anything as Wheeljack and Ratchet talked on.

"Wheeljack, I don't think you understand. We can't risk any more humans knowing of our existence. We have to wait until tonight to begin fixing me."

"But Ratchet-"

Amazing how Ratchet was able to silence anyone with a glare. Stacey looked up from her cup.

"Are you sure, Ratchet? It can hardly be comfortable staying like that for so long." Ratchet shrugged.

"I've been through worse."

Stacey nodded and turned to look out into the early morning light.

**Page break**

"So how's it going?" June asked, raising an eyebrow. Lily crunched on a carrot in her hand.

"What do you mean?" she said innocently.

"You know what I mean. How goes the 'shove your mom and Ratchet together' thing?" June asked, rolling her eyes. The ends of Lily's lips quirked into a smile.

"I got creative with the materials at hand. I told them I had an assignment saying that I had to watch the meteor shower with a family member, and I convinced them both to come along," she said. June nodded approvingly.

"Good job. Did it work?" she asked. Lily frowned slightly.

"Sorta," she said. June cocked her head.

"Sorta? What did they do?" she asked. Lily shrugged.

"He put an arm over her shoulders. I still don't see why that shows that two people like each other. But they didn't kiss or anything. A friend of Ratchet's turned up," she said, murmuring the middle bit. June cocked her head.

"Statistics, please?"

"No, I don't think Mommy like-likes _him_." Lily giggled at the thought. "No, but he's really nice. His name is Wheeljack."

"Wheeljack? What is with your friends and weird names?" June asked. Lily shrugged.

"They're foreign," Lily said.

"So what's 'Wheeljack' like?" June asked. Lily grimaced ever so slightly.

"He has a talent for getting things to explode."

June wisely decided not to ask.

**Page Break, Evening**

"You sure you're going to come back?" Lily asked Wheeljack in a desperate attempt at reassurance. Wheeljack, (in robot mode,) patted the girl's shoulder gently with a finger.

"We'll come back after Ratchet is fixed. I promise," he said, little bulbs flashing blue. Lily nodded.

Stacey found it slightly more awkward. "What's going to happen after you're fixed?" she asked Ratchet. He cocked his head slightly.

"We'll travel to the Autobot base. Hopefully they didn't get themselves slagged in my absence," he grumbled the last part. Stacey looked at her feet a little.

"You should get some better sleep tonight if you're coming with us." Stacey looked up, surprised at Ratchet's words. Ratchet crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"What? You thought Wheeljack and I would just leave? No, you're in a little too deep for that one," he said. Stacey hesitated for a moment, and then hugged him tightly.

"For once I'm glad I'm in too deep something," she said. Ratchet didn't really seem to know what to do in this situation, so he opted to pat her back awkwardly until she let go.

They both blushed for a moment before Ratchet cleared his throat. "Wheeljack and I should get going. Go and get some _sleep_ for once," he said gruffly. Stacey smiled and she and Lily walked inside, and the two Cybertronians walked into the woods.

With Wheeljack being a giant alien robot, and Ratchet just a hologram that could honestly go as fast as he wanted it to, it took no time at all till they got to his body.

Moonlight put Ratchet's somewhat-twisted body in a hellish light. Dried energon still covered the ground, turning the green grass blue. Ratchet looked positively maimed. Wheeljack's hand went to his faceplate.

"Great Primus…" he murmured, blinkers flashing dimly. Ratchet grimaced.

"Indeed. Barricade did quite a number on me," he said. Wheeljack pulled some tools out of subspace.

"We should start working then," he murmured, the silence of the night compelling him to speak quietly. Ratchet nodded as Wheeljack handed him a wrench and they both got to work.

A/N

Nothing much happened in this chapter. I hope I did okay though. Review please!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Get it through your heads!


	8. Planning

Lily rubbed her eyes sleepily as she plopped down at the table. There was the reassuring bubbling of coffee being made by her mother. Stacey was clad in a thin bathrobe over a equally thin blue nightgown. She poured some milk in a cereal bowl only half-consciously and put it in front of her daughter.

Lily didn't eat much; she just swirled the milk in her bowl lazily, watching the cheerios form various shapes. Both of them glanced out of the window every other moment.

Stacey sighed and poured some hot coffee into a mug. She took a long sip, barely registering the fact it burnt her tongue and mouth. Lily absently tugged at a strand of hair dangling near her cereal bowl. They both jumped when two beeps echoed from their driveway.

They both exchanged quick glances and rushed outside.

In their driveway sat a Lancia and a Hummer H2, (admittedly, the H2 looked slightly worse for wear.)

"Ratchet? Wheeljack?" Stacey asked hesitantly. Two holograms flickered into view. Both of which were very familiar. Wheeljack smiled brightly.

"You didn't think we left did you?" he asked. Lily laughed and bounced towards him, hugging him tightly as soon as she got to him. Stacey walked to Ratchet and hugged him as well. This time was slightly less awkward as he hugged her back lightly.

"Get dressed in something warmer or you'll catch a chill," Ratchet said to her. Stacey smiled slightly and she and her daughter retreated to the house, coming back a few minutes later fully dressed.

"Where are we going?" Stacey asked as she climbed into Ratchet.

"Hoover Dam. It is the Autobot base," he answered. Lily smiled as she bounced into Wheeljack.

"Hoover Dam? That's a long drive from here," Stacey said. Wheeljack's hologram grinned.

"We can jam Police scanners. It's very useful if you want to speed," he said. Stacey grinned.

"Well then open 'er up wide. It's been a while since I've been with a car able to go really fast."

Ratchet's and Wheeljack's engines revved in agreement. Both of their holograms sat in the driver's seat and the door closed on its own.

During the drive, they all talked via comm. They talked about Cybertron, the Autobots at the base, the Autobots drifting in the solar system somewhere, the Autobots drifting in a random part of space, and anything of the like. They stayed away from graphic stories of the war for present company, and Lily noticed, though she didn't really care.

It didn't take long for them to reach Hoover Dam. As soon as they were within twenty miles of it Ratchet radioed in.

"Designated Autobot Ratchet, Requesting permission to enter the premises," he said through the comm. Nothing but static answered him. He tried repeating himself twice, but static was the only thing he heard.

"Guys?" he asked. Nothing.

"This doesn't sit well with me," he muttered. Stacey shook her head.

"Then we should just go in and see what's wrong," she said. Ratchet sent in a signal and a pair of doors opened on a path that was inside the dam. He drove through to see a very unwelcome sight.

"What happened?"

The inside was totally abandoned, and energon smeared the walls and floor. Everyone was able to see some scant human blood as well. Lily and Stacey slowly walked out of the their friends as they transformed. Wheeljack picked Lily up gently and covered her eyes. Lily didn't protest.

Ratchet examined the energon left behind. "They are still alive. There isn't enough energon to suggest death, but the drag marks suggest that everyone was taken away."

Wheeljack would've frowned if he didn't have a facemask on. "Why would Decepticons take them away?"

"We are small in numbers, and because Barricade believes me dead, they think that the Autobots are without a medic. Barricade wouldn't be able to do this on his own; I believe that more Decepticons have joined him, possibly with Starscream. And a Cybertronian recently landed in Iceland, and Optimus was seeing if they were friend or foe, so the Autobots are temporarily without their leader as well, so that leaves Ironhide, Jazz, Bumblebee, and the twins to fight."

"They should be more than enough to fight off some random Decepticons," Wheeljack pointed out.

"Yes, but not if the Decepticons managed to collect Skywarp and Thundercracker or, Primus forbid, Soundwave and his cassetteticons. Without a scientist to create something to defend against telepathic warfare or sonic booms, and without a medic to fix them of anything they picked up before and during the battle, they wouldn't be able to fight as long," Ratchet said. Stacey sighed.

"There're too many variables in this. How do we know how many Decepticons were here or which warriors came? All that we can do is to try to get everyone back, right?" she asked. Ratchet nodded in agreement.

"It's true, and we had recently found where the Decepticons are thought to be creating a base. We had no idea they'd be so bold, however," Ratchet turned to Wheeljack, "I have a plan, but it's dangerous to us all."

"Eh, we've been in worse situations almost surely," Wheeljack said, shrugging without removing his fingertips from Lily's eyes.

"It involves Stacey and Lily trying to help us infiltrate the Decepticon base and getting us out."

"Come again?" Stacey asked, not out of concern for herself but of concern for her daughter.

"It's the only thing I can think of at the moment," Ratchet sighed.

"But Lily is still a youngling!" Wheeljack protested. Lily glared at him.

"I'm right here, you know!" she said.

"Yes but, sweetie, you know you can't do that, don't you?" Stacey asked. Lily peered over Wheeljack's fingers to get a good look at her mother.

"It may be the only chance the Autobots have," she said seriously. Ratchet nodded.

"She has a point," he said. Stacey and Wheeljack glared at him.

"Whose side are you on?" they both asked.

"It's true. Besides, she will have Wheeljack with her going one way, and if all goes as planned she'll have the rest of the Autobots with her getting out," Ratchet said. Stacey looked resigned.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she asked her daughter. Lily determinedly nodded her head. Wheeljack looked doubtful but he didn't say anything.

"Alright, let's hear this plan of yours," Stacey said, sitting on the floor.

A/N

How I love a cliff hanger. ;-) Okay, review please!

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Fear the nothing!


	9. Preparing

A/N- Before you start reading, just a warning, there are some moments in this chapter that can be comprehended as sexually intense and a note: Wheeljack and Lily's relationship is friendship, possibly family-like, but not romantic or sexual in any way. I just wanted to say that.

---

"Remind me again what you're doing?" Stacey asked. Ratchet looked up briefly from building the small robot.

"Wheeljack and I are building small, primitive protoforms to house our sparks so we can get inside the Decepticon base without tripping any alarms. You and I are going to go and disable the alarms around the imprisonment chamber by using the energy housed inside my temporary body to overload it. Wheeljack and Lily are going to go the brig and overload the lock with identical tactics. Sadly, we can't build very advanced CPUs, so we won't have the intelligence to do it alone, which is why you're coming along. We also won't have advanced physical bodies, so once we let out the energy, our bodies will go offline and it will be up to you two and the rest of the Autobots to get our sparks back into our original bodies," Ratchet said. Stacey shook her head.

"This is insanity. How dangerous is this for you? It can't exactly be great for your health to be running around with hostile beings when you have little intelligence and even less strength," Stacey said.

"That is why you and Lily are accompanying us," Ratchet said.

"I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to help," Stacey said sadly.

"I trust you, and that is enough for me," Ratchet said simply. Stacey blushed lightly.

"Is there anything I can do to help with that?" Stacey asked to change the topic.

"Yes, there is some circuitry that would be easier to install with your hands, it needs to go right there…"

---

"We're supposed to do WHAT?" Lily asked.

"You and Stacey need to perform the final stage of the spark transfer, i.e. the actual taking the spark and putting it into the protoform," Wheeljack supplied helpfully. Stacey looked from Autobot to Autobot.

"You're insane. One mistake on our part and you're goners, why can't you do it to each other?" Stacey asked.

"A spark is raw power. It is our most basic nature, our personality, and our soul rolled into one. To touch another's spark is very personal, and it is like a human's-" Ratchet paused when he remembered Lily's presence, "Er, _creating_ process, more so if two sparks come together in what we call a 'spark bond.' Even then, if this kind of contact or bond is not wanted, the spark sets up its own defense mechanism and forces its considerable power in an aggressive manner towards whoever touches it. Basically it will send enough energy through any other mechanical being's body to cause a system meltdown, and possibly permanently damaging the said mech. But since human skin is not a strong conductor of electricity, nor are you two even of our own species, the rule does not apply to you. The spark will not retaliate to your touching it," Ratchet finished. Stacey did a facepalm.

"I can't believe my daughter and I are going to have intercourse with two aliens," she muttered from behind her hands.

"What's intercourse?" Lily asked.

"What I mean is that I can't believe they trust us with that, Amaranth," Stacey corrected herself. Ratchet nodded.

"Well, the sooner we begin this the better. Come, Stacey. We're doing it in a different room."

Stacey kissed the top of Lily's head and followed Ratchet out of the sliding doors. Lily stared after them for a moment.

"Amaranth? What is an 'Amaranth?'" Wheeljack asked from behind her. She turned to face the giant robot.

"When I asked, Mommy said that it was from stories. She said that it was 'a flower that never fades,'" Lily said. Wheeljack held out a hand for her to climb on.

"It fits you," he said, bringing her to his chest. Lily looked at him worriedly, and Wheeljack thought he saw fear in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked gently. Lily wiped away a tear that escaped.

"I'm scared I'm going to do something wrong, and you get hurt or die or worse… I-I'm scared that I'll trip and fall and the spark will go out and it'll be my fault and-" Wheeljack stopped the flow of words with a light touch on her mouth. By now tears had started to fall down her face rapidly.

"Look," he said, drawing his finger away, "I know that it's probably scary to have this sort of responsibility all of the sudden. I know that you're still really young and shouldn't have to go through this. Believe me, had I had any choice in the matter, I wouldn't allow you to have to do this but I don't have a choice. For now you'll have to be strong, Amaranth," he hesitated slightly before calling her by her nickname. Lily sniffled and smiled a little.

"I like it when you call me that," she said. Wheeljack's blinkers flashed a baby blue as he delicately wiped away her tears.

"There you go. Now what do you say to getting this done?" he asked cheerfully. Lily smiled weakly and nodded. Wheeljack held her in one cupped hand and carefully opened his spark chamber in the other.

A rush of warm air blew from the inside of Wheeljack's chest. Lily peered in and saw a beautiful beating spark. It looked more like a small blue fireball though. Wheeljack brought his hand closer so Lily could reach it easily. Lily felt herself in danger of crying again, but she reminded herself on how Wheeljack told her to be strong and she took a small shuddering breath. She held out a two hands and carefully put them around the spark.

Lily almost fainted right there. Energy pumped through her veins like liquid lightning. Wheeljack let out a moan, of pain or pleasure, Lily wasn't sure. Miniature sparks danced up and down her arm, but it didn't hurt. It was not cold, but not hot either. It was warm and kind, sort of like Wheeljack. Of course it was like Wheeljack, this was his freaking heart she was holding here!

Lily felt weird holding it. The spark's energy was going further inside herself, and it felt odd. It wasn't like how someone felt when they were in love with someone, (not that she really knew, she only knew from descriptions from highschoolers. June had been bright red from embarrassment when she said it, was there something more to her words?) but it felt odd all the same. Now it was going deeper and deeper, but Lily was suddenly in a trance. She forgot how to move or speak.

"Lily, are you okay?" Wheeljack asked in a strained voice. That snapped her out of it. Lily bit her lip a little. She was causing Wheeljack pain (or disturbing pleasure, depends on how you look at it,) by allowing herself to draw this out too long. She braced herself and took the spark from his casing.

She almost panicked when Wheeljack went limp and his optics went black. She fought the rising fear by telling herself that he wasn't dead, he was the warm little fireball in her hand. She brought the spark to her own chest protectively and climbed off of the robotic shell that was once her friend. Tears of fear sprang to Lily's eyes again but she didn't bother taking the time to wash them away.

She quickly yet carefully scurried to the small protoform lying face-up on the floor. Its spark chamber was already open, so she took the spark and gently slid it into place. She closed its, now his, chest and waited for him to wake up.

---

Stacey timidly looked at the bright pulsing spark. She uncomfortable shifted her weight and felt her own heart beat faster at the closeness of Ratchet's heart, along with some other physical responses. Now how the _hell_ did her body react to aliens? She bit her lip but as of yet made no movement to touch the spark.

"You are hesitant. Why?" Ratchet asked her.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to properly protect you when you're small. I'm worried I'll fail," Stacey said sadly. (She was careful not to bring up the embarrassing topic of what they were by technicality about to do.) Ratchet cocked his head.

"Why? We can't spend too much time worrying about what did happen and what can happen," he said, his experience in war-time medicine showing through. Stacey hesitated then leaned over so that they were face-to-face. Her heart was pumping so hard she was worried it would jump out of her chest, but it felt odd. She hadn't felt this way in a very long time.

She lightly brushed her lips against his. "That's why," she murmured and she gently tugged his spark from his chamber. Before Ratchet had time to comprehend what the slag had just happened, he had gone offline.

Stacey's reaction to the spark was a little more gentle than her daughter's, perhaps because she had taken it out faster. The spark sent tiny pinpricks of a mix of pleasure and pain to her arms. It felt like a more enjoyable version of pins-and-needles. Energy seemed to seep deeper than skin, or blood for that matter. It seemed to be reaching for something that had more to do with the spirit than the body. She shivered involuntarily at the sensation.

Stacey composed herself and then slowly made her way to Ratchet's protoform.

A/N

Okay, that must be the most mixed-message-y chapter I've ever written. Again I will say, Wheeljack's and Lily's relationship is platonic. Totally and completely platonic. Review please!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.


	10. Explaining

Lily could feel her muscles trembling. She could barely stand anymore. She sunk to her knees and promised herself to tell Ratchet that sparks really did react to organic beings, if by reacting he meant tiring them to the point of insanity.

The small protoform that housed Wheeljack's spark chirruped and nuzzled her shoulder worriedly. There was another thing, when they said that they wouldn't have high intelligence when in the protoforms they never said that they would have the intelligence level of a fawn.

Lily sighed and hugged the protoform reassuringly. She was so tired. Wheeljack could feel her trembling with exhaustion. He chirped again and hugged her back, still worried. He held her there until her breathing became even and she stopped trembling. He couldn't resist clicking in triumph quietly. He may have limited intelligence, but instinct told him that the little girl who helped him needed sleep, so he got her to sleep. Ah, the simplicity of it all.

---

Stacey motioned for Ratchet's protoform to follow her. He glanced at her once and followed her, only twice reverting to all fours again. She slid the door between the room she was in and the room Wheeljack and Lily were supposed to be in. Inside she saw Wheeljack's protoform holding her sleeping daughter like a protective mother bear. Wheeljack gave the new arrivals a quick scan and deemed them safe, though he tightened his grip slightly on Lily all the same.

"That is the single most adorable sight I've ever seen," Stacey said simply. Ratchet seemed to click in agreement.

"C'mon, you two. You left the blueprints of the Decepticon base in the control room; we should be able to review the plan of action before we decide to tackle this little rescue mission," Stacey said, gesturing for the protoforms to follow. Wheeljack and Ratchet fell into step and followed her, the former still carrying Lily.

Stacey didn't like the hollow sound of feet tapping against the metal floors. It was so rhythmic and immobile. It was so mechanical…

She cocked her head. No, it wasn't the fact that it was mechanical that bothered her. Wheeljack and Ratchet were both mechanical, and look at her and her daughter's relationship with them.

She was startled out of her musings when she realized they had reached the control room. She ushered the protoforms inside and helped them onto the giant tables to look over the blueprints. She painstakingly showed them what they were supposed to do and how, and along the way Lily woke up and came to her aid as well.

"So do you understand?" Stacey asked. Ratchet and Wheeljack bobbed their heads and let out affirmative squeaks. She clapped her hands together.

"Okay then, let's get to it. There's a car rental service nearby. I'll drive."

A/N

I'm SO SORRY about the length! This was a transition chapter, and I can't think of anything else to put here without it bleeding into the next chapter. Sorry, sorry, sorry… -shields self from angry fans- Review please!

Disclaimer: Thou doth own nothing.


	11. Trying

"Okay. We can't risk any communications because the Decepticons could easily detect that sort of thing. So are you sure you understand what to do?" Stacey asked Lily worriedly. Lily looked up from her black clothes and nodded. Stacey bit her lip.

"Alright then, take care of yourself, Angel." She kissed the top of her daughter's head and crawled through the small vent in the Decepticon base with Ratchet following behind her. (Yes, they had ventilation. They needed _something_ for their air recyclers.)

Stacey only paid attention to the rhythmic tap on the metal Ratchet made. She wouldn't deny it: she was scared. In fact, more than scared. She was downright terrified. But Ratchet, Wheeljack, and the rest of the Autobots needed her. She grit her teeth and continued through the shaft, taking twists and turns through forks and mazes. As she past the openings to the Decepticon base, she was able to see into many different rooms. There was the recreation room, which was empty at the moment, there was a training room, there were some bedrooms… ah ha! The control room!

Stacey took out some tools from a small pack on her hip and gently pried the covering off. She slipped out, and the Frenzy-like protoform slid out behind her. She looked around the gargantuan room, chewing the inside of her cheek a little. It was unguarded, surprisingly. The Decepticons probably didn't expect an attack since the only Autobots they knew of they had captured, they had thought they killed, or was half way around the world. Stacey led Ratchet to the main computer, having to struggle to get there.

Stacey shuffled onto the control panel beneath a huge screen. She gently tugged Ratchet's hand towards an outlet leading from the panel. She hesitated for a moment and then hugged the protoform tightly.

"Careful," she murmured, even though she knew his abilities to comprehend her words were minimal. Yet, the protoform still bobbed his head a little and plugged into the outlet.

The lights around them began to flicker violently. Stacey had to close her eyes briefly to keep from getting a headache. She heard a sparking sound, and she held out her arms. Ratchet fell into them, and when she opened her eyes she saw that he was thoroughly offline and will continue to be so until she could transfer his spark to his original body. "Hang in there, Ratchet," Stacey murmured. She shifted the spidery robot to one arm and clicked a button on a device strapped to her hip, sending a signal to her daughter.

---

Lily pursed her lips when the small computer on her belt beeped. They were in. Wheeljack reassuringly wrapped a hand around her wrist and they both scrambled into the ventilation system. Unlike Stacey, however, they needed to get out of the vent immediately as they were already at the closest vent to the brig. (Which wasn't really that close to begin with. The Decepticons were smart about these things sometimes.)

Lily and Wheeljack slid out of the vents quietly. For once being small and young helped Lily as she could walk on the metallic floor without making much of a sound. She heard some loud footsteps from farther up the hall, and letting out a frightened squeak she shrank into the non-existent shadows. Wheeljack managed to comprehend her problem and darkened his optics so that they wouldn't glow. Never the less, he still stood in front of her to deter any attacks.

He needn't have. A large blue Decepticon that looked like it had a jet alt-form walked by without much concern. The two paused for a while to make sure the jet wasn't going to come back, and then they scurried down the hall and jumped into a stairwell leading down.

Sadly, these stairs were made for normal sized Cybertronians. Lily didn't dare jump down in fear of breaking her neck, but Wheeljack wrapped his arms around her and jumped down. It took some willpower for Lily to suppress the child-like urge to giggle at the feeling of falling safely.

Wheeljack put her down again when they reached the bottom. This corridor was dark and cold. Lily shivered at the damp, depressed chill in the air, and Wheeljack clicked in concern. He nuzzled her a little and she couldn't help but smile slightly.

"I'm fine, don't worry," she said.

"Is someone there?" someone in the inky blackness asked.

"Oi, if you're Thundercracker again, you can go slag yourself!"

"Guys, I didn't 'ear any seekers. I tink I 'eard ah kid," someone said. Wheeljack's arm turned into a flashlight and he turned it on.

"That _is_ a kid! What are you doing here?" a bright red Autobot asked from behind bars. Wheeljack's light had revealed, not only the fact that there were several cells built into the walls, but there was an Autobot in more than a few of them.

"She's with Frenzy! Get away from her, you little fragger!" a bright yellow robot shouted, ramming into the bars. Wheeljack, to his credit, didn't flinch.

"Sunstreaker! That isn't Frenzy. Frenzy's blue, not green," A black, slightly rough sounding mech said. Lily bit her lip lightly.

"Um, hi... My name is Lily, and this isn't Frenzy. (Whoever that is.) This is Wheeljack," she said. There was a pause, and a silver robot slapped his forehead.

"Wheeljack?! What did he do ta himself this time?!" he shouted, though not so loudly that he could've been heard outside the brig. Wheeljack let out some slightly indignant whirrs, clicks, and squeaks. The Autobots stared at the tiny protoform.

"Apparently he turned himself into a sparkling," the first red robot said.

"Well, um, what are your names?" Lily asked.

"I'm Sideswipe, and this is my twin Sunstreaker," the red robot pointed to himself and to the bright yellow robot respectively.

"Ah'm Jazz," the silver Autobot said with a friendly wink.

"Ironhide," the black mech said simply.

"And I'm Bumblebee!" a yellow mech towards the back said. Lily looked around nervously.

"Er, do any of you know where the... what was it called?... Oh yeah, the 'lock override' outlet is?" she asked. Jazz leaned against the bars and frowned.

"Ya aren't goin' ta try ta use it, are ya? It has a lot of electricity run'n through it, enough electricity ta hurt you bad," he said.

Lily set her mouth in a grim line. "Just trust me. I'm not going to touch it myself. Where is it?"

Sideswipe looked hesitant to show her but he pointed to a small console by the stairs none-the-less. Lily scrambled to it, and Wheeljack helped take the protective casing off of the outlet. A plug came out of the protoform's chest and he plugged it in. There was a loud sound of static and Wheeljack went limp.

Ignoring the cries of dismay from the Autobots, Lily unplugged Wheeljack and stored the plug away in a compartment in his chest. She hugged his inert body protectively like one would hold a teddy bear and the bar doors slid open. Immediately the Autobots formed a small ring around her and started asking after their friend.

"He's okay, he's just asleep," Lily said, quieting down the questions. There was a loud clatter from behind them and they turned around to see a giant Decepticon with 'police' written all over him.

"PRISON BREAK!" he shouted.

A/N

Hello cliffies! Sorry it took so long for me to update, my computer is about five years old and is on its last legs. It was glitching/crashing and I didn't dare try to write too much for a few days. Review please!

Disclaimer: I do not, I repeat, do NOT own the transformers! (Though I desperately wish I did.)


	12. Reviving

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe tensed up. "I'm so glad you're the one here, you slagger. I'm going to kick your aft to the matrix for what you did," Sunstreaker growled darkly. Barricade took a battle-ready position and two cannons came out of his arms.

"Bumblebee! Get Wheeljack and the kid out of here!" Jazz shouted. Bumblebee looked reluctant to leave the fight but concern for those that couldn't defend themselves won out. He scooped up Lily and the protoform and ran up the stairs.

When they got to the ground floor, Bumblebee turned into a yellow Camaro and Lily jumped in. Bumblebee sped through the halls so quickly Lily was curious as to why he hadn't smashed into one of the walls by now.

"What did that giant Decepticon do?" Lily asked.

"You mean what did he do to get Sunny so angry?" Bumblebee let out a mechanical sigh. "There was another one of us. Our medic, Ratchet. Barricade caught him when he was alone a killed him; we can't find his body."

Lily was silent. "And, if you haven't found his body, how do you know he's gone?" she asked.

"Barricade told us with no small amount of glee. And we haven't gotten a transmission from him ever since the day Barricade said that he was killed. Barricade really doesn't have reason to lie. I'm just not looking forward to telling Wheeljack, he and Ratchet were very good friends," Bumblebee said sadly. Lily slowly contemplated how she was going to tell him.

"Er, Bumblebee… You won't have to tell Wheeljack. Ratchet's not dead."

"How would you know?" he asked. Lily let a smile slink on to her face.

"My mommy and I were in the forest Barricade beat Ratchet up in. We found him before he died, and mommy fixed him best she could. His legs weren't connected, though and he couldn't call you because of some… I don't really know, maybe the Decepticon took out his antenna…? I don't know how robot bodies are made. Anyway, he used his hologram to walk around for a while, but he and mommy couldn't fix his legs, so they waited and Wheeljack fell from the sky. Wheeljack and Ratchet together were able to fix his body and we went to the base and you can guess what happens next," she said. There was a pause and then she felt Bumblebee shudder under her happily.

"Then he's alive! I knew it would take more than Barricade to keep Ratchet down!" he said. Lily could imagine that if he wasn't a car, he would be grinning from audio to audio.

"Well, you can be happy about it later, Ratchet is just like Wheeljack. He is… how did you say it?... Oh, he's a sparklying," Lily said, messing up the pronunciation a bit.

"That should be fine. Don't tell the others around the Decepticons, though. Barricade thinks he did away with Ratch, and it's in our favor if they think he's dead," Bumblebee said.

Lily turned in her seat and saw two Lamborghinis, a Pontiac Solstice, and a GMC Topkick driving towards them.

"That bitch aint gettin' up any time soon," Jazz said.

"Where's you're mother going to be?" Bee asked the small girl.

"She's probably outside now. Come on, I hear jets!" she sounded scared.

"The seekers. Primus I wish I could slag those little fraggers," Ironhide growled.

"Not when we 'ave a kid wit' us. Come on!" Jazz said. The twins grumbled and followed the Camaro and the Solstice reluctantly through the twisting halls.

"Awww, are you leaving so soon?" a mocking voice said. A black and purple F-22 turned into their hallway and started speeding towards them.

"Skywarp. Listen, Lily, there's a small plasma gun on my seat. Do you think you can try to shoot him?" Bumblebee asked. Lily's eyes went wide at the prospect of shooting anything, and she quickly shook her head side to side.

"Okay, hang tight then!" Guns slid from Bumblebee's sides and started shooting at the jet. Skywarp, being who he was, swerved out of the way but the shots hit the ceiling, causing bits of metal and debris to crash onto his cock pit.

"Hey! Watch the glass, Autobot!" Skywarp shouted. During his brief distraction Ironhide swiftly transformed and shot the jet square in the snout. Lily whimpered and buried her face into Bumblebee's leather to avoid looking at the wreckage. Skywarp let out an ear-splitting scream and the little girl started clawing at her own ears in a vain attempt to expel the sound.

Bumblebee started murmuring words of comfort for the distressed girl, but Lily never took the time to interpret them. She only hung on to the tone of voice, the tone that said that it was okay. She risked a glance up and saw Ironhide back in his alt mode and driving behind him and a beaten up but still swearing Skywarp was lying twisted on the floor. Sheer speed on the Autobots' part had the jet out of sight in a matter of seconds. Lily tightened her grip on Wheeljack's inert form and buried her face into his shoulder.

"I wish you were awake," she whispered. She couldn't shake the child-like notion that if Wheeljack was awake he'd be able to make all the terrible images of Skywarp's mutilated body go away and he'd know how to make her feel better. But he wasn't awake, so she was going to have to stay strong.

The metallic screech of tires turning sharply on the floor of the Decepticon base turned quiet and Lily realized that they were outside. She barely noticed Bumblebee stop for someone to come in with her; only after a moment did she realize that the new ones were her mother and the unconscious form of Ratchet. She didn't really notice the twins ask who the other protoform was, and she didn't notice the semi-loud cheers that erupted from the cars when Bumblebee told them. Stacey hugged her daughter reassuringly, and the familiar smell of lavender on her reassured Lily that it was okay. The demons of Skywarp's screams retreated, if only for now.

"We have to hurry to Wheeljack's and Ratchet's bodies. Ratchet said he wasn't sure what would happen if they stayed out of them too long," Stacey said.

"How did ya _get_ their sparks in ah sparkling form in ta' first place? Ah know tha' dey can't really do dat unless dey found some way ta convince the spark dat nothings happenin'," Jazz said.

"Lily and I did it," Stacey said.

"Ol' Hatchet let you near his spark? He must really like you," Sideswipe said.

"It doesn't really mean anything with someone outside your species. Ratchet said that the sparks shouldn't react to organics," Stacey said, blushing a little.

"Sure it means somethin'. Ratch's aint the most trustin'. He doesn't let anyone near 'is spark, organic or not. It's personal," Jazz said.

"And Wheeljack let your daughter hold his?" Sideswipe asked.

"Yes, he did," Stacey said, glad for the slight change in topic.

"…Is that really child-friendly?" Sideswipe asked after a beat.

"I don't see why. We aren't of the same species," Stacey said, suddenly not so glad.

"Well, isn't that really interspecies sex?" he asked bluntly.

"Sides, that is not something you ask someone," Jazz said warningly.

"Really, isn't it?" Sideswipe asked.

"If it was, wouldn't that make Wheeljack a pedophile?" Bumblebee wondered aloud.

"… As soon as we get to the base I'm cleaning my CPU with clorox," Sideswipe deadpanned.

"Guys!" Jazz exclaimed.

"We are not having this discussion," Stacey said with a tone of finality and a dark look in her eye. The rest of the ride was quiet, and everyone sped up a little.

Bumblebee stopped smoothly just inside of Hoover's Dam, and Stacey hurried out of his seat with Ratchet and Lily didn't seem entirely there as she slid off the leather seats with Wheeljack.

"When they wake up, they're going to need a lot of rest. Don't come in until tomorrow, 'kay?" Stacey said. Some of the hardened warriors grumbled but they all agreed.

Stacey and Lily entered the separate rooms, and Lily stared at Wheeljack's true body for a moment. She gently laid the protoform on the ground and opened up his spark chamber.

The now-familiar spark was beating there invitingly. Lily held it carefully and pulled it from the chamber. Maybe it was because she was expecting it, or maybe she had done it before, but the experience of touching Wheeljack's spark wasn't as raw and radical as it was before. It still gave her that odd feeling, but it felt more like greeting an old friend than being enveloped in ice cold water. She felt her energy draining into the spark somehow, and at the same time a different energy was being given to her. Whatever was happening was making her want to curl up and fall asleep…

No. Not yet. Fix Wheeljack first, and then sleep.

Lily crawled up Wheeljack's arm and carefully climbed to his still-open spark chamber. She eased the spark in to the chamber… And Wheeljack convulsed unconsciously, causing her to lose her grip and fall.

She landed with a soft plop in the palm of Wheeljack's hand. Lily blearily looked up to meet his concerned optics.

"Are you alright, Lily?" he asked. Lily pressed her forehead against the cool armor of her friend. Tears leaked from her eyes and splashed onto Wheeljack's hand steadily.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. Wheeljack didn't seem quite sure how to handle this situation so he settled for running a finger through her hair as a gesture of comfort.

"What happened?" he asked.

"This big jet, Skywarp, he was chasing us and Bumblebee shot him and he couldn't see where he was going Ironhide shot him and he screamed… Oh, he had the worst scream. I-I don't think that I ever heard something like that. I saw him on the floor all twisted and… Oh God it was terrible," she whimpered. Wheeljack's optics softened with sympathy. Now he understood.

"Was he talking after he got hit?" he asked.

"Yeah, very loudly," Lily said.

"He's fine, then. Skywarp's been shot millions of times, and he's always come back. He's hard to kill as a cockroach," he joked. Lily looked up at him and smile through her tears.

"I shouldn't feel badly then, right?" she asked hopefully. Wheeljack covered her with his warm fingers.

"Of course not. You didn't hurt him, and Skywarp should be fine. All you were was an observer," he said comfortingly. He noticed dark circles under Lily's eyes and she curled up in his hands against his closed spark chamber.

"I love you, Wheeljack. You're like the big brother I never had," she murmured. Wheeljack looked down at the little girl in surprise. Humans had such a way with Cybertronians, it seemed. After only a few days this little girl and wiggled her way into his spark, and he found that he indeed saw her as the human equivalent of a little sister.

"I love you too, Amaranth."

Satisfied, Lily closed her eyes and her breathing became even and gentle. Soon, Wheeljack followed suit.

---

Stacey carefully watched as Ratchet's optics came online. A raspy sound came out of his vocal processor and his optics flickered.

"You okay?" Stacey asked tiredly. Ratchet took a moment to process he was being spoken to.

"Disorientated," he grunted finally.

"Good. You need to sleep, and disorientation will keep you off your feet," Stacey said. She kneeled on his chest so they were both face to face, errant strands of hair that escaped from her bun framing her face.

"Are you okay? I don't remember what happened while I was outside my body very well…" Ratchet asked.

"I'm fine. Just… tired," Stacey murmured.

"Then sleep. And… I have a question," Ratchet said.

"Shoot." Stacey curled up on his chest and closed her eyes.

"What the slag was that just before you took my spark out?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, smiling a little.

"Your lips were against mine," Ratchet clarified.

"Oh, that. It's called a kiss."

"But isn't that something humans do to each other as a sign of sexual desire?" he asked bluntly.

"It isn't necessarily sexual. Family kiss each other, friends kiss each other," she paused due to a yawn. "But when you kiss someone of the opposite sex on the lips it's a sign of romantic feelings."

"That would imply that you have such feelings for me."

"I would've thought that was obvious. 'Night."

She fell asleep, leaving a thoroughly confused Ratchet for the world of dreams.

A/N

I'm SO SORRY about how long it took! My computer crashed and I couldn't write for several days and then there was an email problem so I couldn't send it to my beta, Maieve Avvi, (by the way, we all owe Maieve applause for editing. Thank you!) and it was all the computer conspiring against me. Anyway, hope this met your expectations, and review, please!

Disclaimer: I own nothing!


	13. Exchanging

Sunstreaker leaned casually on the med bay wall and Sideswipe was across from him, both looking at Wheeljack, the occupant of one of the many med bay recharge births.

"How do you do it? Didn't you realize _something_ would go wrong with putting your spark somewhere it shouldn't be?" Sideswipe asked.

"Um, not really. The calculations registered fine!" Wheeljack said sheepishly. Lily giggled from her place on the table next to the berth.

"Well, on the plus side it was us who were sedating the cranky medic instead of the other way around. He's going to kill us when he wakes up…" Sideswipe didn't look remorseful.

"It'll be a while till he does; we designed that sedation to have a lot of power, so you're safe for now." Wheeljack winked good-naturedly.

"Well, I feel better now that I know you feel better," Lily said, standing up and being totally oblivious to the 'awww' look that the twins, Sideswipe especially, had taken for a moment. "You'd better go to sleep again 'cause Mommy once told me that people can't get bet-" she stopped talking when she tripped flat on her face.

"Lily! Are you okay?" Wheeljack said worriedly.

"Slag!" Lily said loudly. Every mech present stiffened.

"…What did you just say?" Wheeljack asked. Lily looked up, chewing her lip.

"Slag? The twins say it a lot, didn't I use it right?" she asked. Wheeljack looked deadly placid.

"And what else did they say that you don't understand?" he asked calmly. The twins glanced at each other fearfully.

"Um, they said 'frag', 'fragger', 'aft', 'slagger', 'Pit', 'Primus', 'bitch', and they said some things using those words like 'I'll kick your aft to the Matrix', things like that," Lily said, counting on her fingers. Wheeljack turned his gaze to the twins calmly, but then he got a look on his face that said very clearly, 'I will kill you in your sleep.'

"Um… We'll start curbing our tongues…?" Sideswipe said nervously.

"Idiot, flee!" And with that, both of the twins ran for their lives.

"Um, why did they run away?" Lily asked. Wheeljack sighed and held out his hand. She climbed into it and he cupped her next to his chest.

"No reason. Just, forget all those words and phrases. Something tells me that they'll stop saying them soon." He sighed again and Lily curled up to him, wrapping her arms around him as far as they could go (which wasn't that far) in a hug.

"And Wheeljack? I wanted to ask something. When I took your spark out, it made me feel funny. It didn't hurt or anything, actually I liked it, but it felt funny," Lily said. Wheeljack frowned beneath his mask.

"I thought that was just my imagination. Did Stacey feel something like that?"

"Yeah, she told me. She said that she felt funny too, but she didn't say much," Lily said.

"Um, Ratchet and I'll look into that," Wheeljack said, bulbs blinking an embarrassed light pink. Judging by how he himself had reacted, he thought he had an idea of what happened.

"That's good," Lily said simply, nuzzling the engineer affectionately.

---

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe whispered to each other fearfully in the relative safety of their room. Sideswipe kept on glancing at the door haphazardly, almost expecting some weird invention Wheeljack made to come in and vaporize them.

"Do you think he'll kill us?" Sideswipe asked.

"No, he's too nice for that. He'll tell Ratchet and let him kill us," Sunstreaker said. Sideswipe winced.

"That's even worse."

The door slid open, and Lily bounced in with a small smile on her face. "Hi! What's going on?"

"Traitor! Thanks to you we have a death sentence on our heads!" Sunstreaker said. Lily frowned.

"Sorry guys, I didn't know that you kept on saying _bad_ words. Can I do something to make up for it?" she asked. The twins huffed.

"If you can think of something that would be worth our lives, sure," Sideswipe said. Lily's eyes twinkled devilishly, and the smile that crawled on her face was positively evil.

"My middle name's Ratchet," she said. The twins stared at her, and then both of their faces split into grins.

"That is _so_ worth our lives. GOLD!" Sideswipe shouted, pumping his arms.

"Ratchet is never going to live this down. We owe you, Lils!" Sunstreaker said, grinning. They both walked out of the room thinking up all the mileage they'd get out of this, and leaving a small smirking girl behind them.

"This could get interesting," she murmured, quoting a show she once saw. She leaned against the recharge berth and smiled wickedly.

A/N

M'kay, it's short and there's no Ratchet/Stacey fluff but it'll come unless my plotbunny mutates again and I have to stave it off. The chapter is short only because it's transition. (I hate transition!) Who'd've thought that this began as an oneshot? Review please!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, at it's kind of sad that I have to say this for the lawyers' benefits as I _hope _law school graduates are smart enough to know that I'm not making any money off of this.


	14. Panicking

A/N: If you are reading, and you find something offensive and you don't want to read anymore, read the A/N at the bottom and continue. It's preferable to read the entire chapter first, but if you want an explaination right then and there you're free to get it.

---

Ratchet grumbled darkly as he leaned against the med-bay wall and sipped his energon. It was like a mini storm cloud was hovering over his head and shooting little lightning bolts. Wheeljack looked up from his own cube and raised an optic ridge.

"What'd the twins do this time?" he asked.

"Someone told them that Lily's middle name is Ratchet and now they won't leave me alone," he grumbled. "Slagging no good glitches…"

Wheeljack cocked his head in mild interest. "Stacey named Lily after you?"

Ratchet looked up at him. "Yeah, it is because of me that Stacey's still alive and Lily was born in the first place. Stacey mentioned that she thought it was appropriate."

"Well," Wheeljack started, his eyes smiling. "You should be proud of that. You owe me that story, by the way. Speaking of which, Lily mentioned that she and Stacey reacted when they touched our sparks. We should probably look into that."

Ratchet set his cube aside and touched his chin lightly, assuming a thinking pose. "I'm not sure how I reacted to Stacey as she took my spark out quickly. Did Lily do the same?"

"No…"

"Did you react to her?"

Wheeljack's optics widened and his blinkers flashed an embarrassed pink. That was answer enough for Ratchet.

"Okay, a quick spark-test should tell us what happened," Ratchet said, waving Wheeljack towards the med-bay computer room.

The room was small, and the only illumination came from the vast array of computer screens that were built into the walls. They were made for tests such as this one and for keeping track of a patient's vitals if a medic wasn't available. Ratchet ushered Wheeljack towards one of the biggest computers which was just above a desk. The two Autobots sat at the desk and the medic typed in an order. Two cables snaked out of the wall and both of the mechs took them.

A port slid out of both of their wrists, and in unison, they connected the cable and it quickly ran a scan of their systems.

Wheeljack leaned on the desk and read the Cybertronian script as it appeared on the screen. Ratchet just leaned back and let his optics flick across the words. Both, however, stiffened and stared at what the screen said.

Wheeljack rebooted his optics then looked again. Yep, it still said the same thing.

"We are what?!" he shouted.

"We are both bonded to them, and they to us. Apparently… touching our spark also had the same affect on them as a humans… mating process… has on them," Ratchet said, disbelief heavy in his voice. Wheeljack was staring with wide optics at nothing.

"Oh great Primus… I took Lily's virginity and neither of us was aware of it…" He sounded completely horrified. "Oh great Primus, what have I done?"

Ratchet looked nervously at his panicking and obviously guilt-ridden friend. He quickly dislodged the cables from both of them and let the wall take them back. "I wouldn't put it in that way, exactly…"

"I'm never going to be able to look her in the eye again," Wheeljack murmured.

"Wheeljack!" Wheeljack looked up at his friend. Ratchet crossed his arms and the engineer braced himself for some tough love. "Listen, it's not like either of you knew what was happening, it's not like you pinned her down and forced a spark bond," Wheeljack shuddered at the thought. "And it's not like she's mentally or emotionally scarred for life. You didn't know what was going to happen and you reacted simply because that is how you are programmed to react. You. Have. No. Reason. To. Be. Guilty. Besides, if you are bonded to her it just makes it that much easier to make sure she is okay. One day she'll get older and start going out and possibly start going to places and doing things that will harm her, and you'll be able to sense where she is and generally how she is."

Wheeljack felt in his spark, and now that he was aware of the bond he realized that Ratchet's words spoke true. He could sense Lily taking a nap in her makeshift room, and he withdrew from his spark.

"I still can't help but feel terrible," he said forlornly. Ratchet sighed.

"As long as you get over it soon," he said. A thought struck Wheeljack, and he looked up at the medic.

"You haven't told me how you feel about Stacey's bond," he pointed out gently. Had it been anyone else, (besides an extreeeeeeeemly select few,) Ratchet may have just threw a wrench at his head and demand that he get out of his med-bay, but instead he just stood up and leaned against the wall.

"I don't know what to think. I'm very… confused about Stacey," Ratchet sighed.

Wheeljack raised an optic ridge. "How so?"

"Just before she transferred my spark, she… kissed me. And when she transferred it again she said that she had romantic feelings for me but she fell asleep before I could respond. Since then, it's almost as if nothing ever happened. She hasn't said anything about it, and neither have I, and it's been about two weeks since I woke up from the sedation the twins gave me. I don't really know what to think," he said, shaking his head. Wheeljack let out a low chuckle.

"You never hung around femmes a lot, I take it?" he asked. Ratchet looked at him confusedly. "She's waiting for you to make the next move. She's not sure how you feel about her, so she's settled for waiting for you to figure it out on your own. Do _you_ have romantic feelings for her?"

Ratchet regarded the engineer for a moment, thinking. Wheeljack just raised an optic ridge, waiting for an answer.

"Yes, yes I do."

Wheeljack leaned back and the edges of his optics pinched in a smile. "Then you let her know, in your own way of course. I can't tell you what the best way is."

A/N

A quick thing, the timeline here is that when Wheeljack and Ratchet woke up in their normal bodies, there was something wrong. In less than a day the twins had sedated Ratchet and Wheeljack peacefully stayed in the med-bay. Ratchet woke up about a week later and this is two weeks after he woke up. (Lily goes to a public school, so no one's really worried about her getting expelled. Wheeljack's been sure to keep her mind stimulated and all that.) I'd like to underline the fact that Wheeljack is not a pedophile. I'm by no means angry at anyone who thought so when they read the spark transfer scene, I wondered that myself while I was writing it, but I think there is a difference between when some fifty-year-old man knowingly tricks a little six-year-old into sex or molests said six-year-old and Wheeljack unknowingly bonding to Lily. Ratchet pretty much said all I can think of at the moment, that and the fact that Wheeljack is ravaged with guilt sort of spells the fact out, to me at least. I still stand by the fact that Wheeljack and Lily's relationship it PLATONIC. The spark bond and the sensations they both got from the action was sexual, but the actual relationship is platonic, (at least while Lily is so young. Who knows, maybe I'll do a piece when she's older and my crazy plotbunnies will pair them together.)

Okay, I realize that this chapter is short, but the story's coming to an end, so I'm wrapping everything up. Review, please!

Disclaimer: I don't own the transformers, but I do own Lily and Stacey.


	15. Ending

Lily was curled up in a little ball in Wheeljack's back seat, listening to the quiet sound of his wheels rolling across the road. He friend had been very quiet lately, and she didn't know why. She let out a quiet, sad sigh and absently rubbed the leather that made up his seats.

She listened hard, and she was able to faintly hear Ratchet driving next to them with her mother inside. She uncurled halfway and looked out of the window to see the greenery whizzing by. It had been almost a month since she'd been back home and, despite how much she loved the Autobots, it would feel nice to sleep in her own bed again.

"We're going to be there soon," Wheeljack said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Lily nodded slowly. "You and Ratchet are going to stay with us, right?" she asked fearfully.

"Ratchet is, but I'm not likely to," Wheeljack said sadly.

Lily's head snapped up and her eyes widened. "But, why?" she asked. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and she sniffled.

"Aw, Lily, don't cry…" Lily hiccupped and tears started falling faster. His hologram disappeared from the driver's seat, apparently he didn't think that there were many other drivers, and he flickered by her.

"Pl-please don't go…" she whispered. Wheeljack pulled her into his arms and rocked side to side while stroking her hair and making shushing sounds.

"I never meant to hurt you," he whispered. Lily would never know that his words held two meanings.

"Why would you leave me?" she asked, clutching him as though he would disappear right in front of her. Wheeljack didn't answer her, just stroked her hair with loving gentleness.

For a moment the image of Lily's sage grandmother appeared in her mind's eye and she heard her voice whisper in her ear. _"When comes the time you feel as if you're losing everything, hold it closer than ever before and wait until you can take it back without tears making your decisions unsure."_ At the time, Lily didn't understand what she had meant. Now she did, and she steeled herself to take heed.

She felt Wheeljack roll to a stop and he wiped away her tears. "C'mon, you were really excited about going home a little bit ago. We can talk about it later if you like," he said, a smile on his face. Lily scrubbed her eyes roughly to dispel any remaining tears and nodded, jumping out of her friend and saying nothing. Wheeljack's eyes dimmed with hurt the way his optics did in his true form, but it was understandable for her to act like this. He sighed and his hologram flickered out of view.

Ratchet's hologram and Stacey jumped out of the rescue vehicle. Ratchet noticed Wheeljack sort of sagging on his axle, and he gave his friend a questioning glance. The engineer shook sharply to one side, saying quite clearly he didn't want to talk about it. Ratchet glared at him as if to say that he hadn't heard the last of this.

Lily ran inside, not sparing anyone a glance. Stacey was slightly puzzled by her daughter's behavior but she brushed it off as her being very excited to be back home.

She walked into the by now rather dusty kitchen and looked out of the window. She felt Ratchet pad next to her quietly, and a small sardonic smile twitched the corners of her lips.

"Well, this place can use a good dusting before my parents get home. Speaking of my parents, how am I supposed to explain to them why there's a rescue vehicle and a Lancia in our driveway?" she asked.

"I thought you could say that an old friend from school died and you were the beneficiary of the insurance and got us from their will," he said.

Stacey looked up confusedly. "'Beneficiary of the insurance'?" she asked.

Ratchet smiled. "Indeed. I wired a good deal of money directly to your bank account this morning," he clasped both of her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "This means that you no longer have to do menial jobs to help support your family. You have enough to go back to high school, and then to college, to get a real education."

Stacey's eyes filled to the brim with tears and she couldn't hold it back. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him full on the lips. Ratchet tentatively wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back, closing his eyes.

Stacey's mouth stretched into a smile through the contact. The two broke away mutually, blushing a little. There was a silence, but it wasn't a completely uncomfortable one.

"You should go upstairs and clean yourself. You have been complaining about the Autobots' lack of such facilities for the entire time you've been there," he said, letting her go. One hand lingered on her back, and that one touch said enough for them both.

"Yeah. Who knew how dependent I was on showers?" She walked to the door, and she hesitated in the door way. She turned around and kissed Ratchet again on the lips but she was out the room and up the stairs before he had time to react.

Ratchet touched his lips lightly, noticing how they were slightly swollen. He smiled and turned to look out the window.

--

Night had fallen by the time Lily slipped out of the house, light on her feet as a cat sneaking out of its master's home for a brief breath of dark freedom and dark as a raccoon on the prowl for food. Her blue eyes looked gray in the moonlight, only accentuating her brief animalistic appearance. Taking pains to not wake the recharging medic and her sleeping mother, she walked across the dewy grass, her feet not making a sound. The cat was free at last and the raccoon was out of danger.

Wheeljack was still awake when she reached him. Maybe he had been waiting for her. Maybe he just couldn't fall into recharge. His hologram immediately flickered into existence and he made a move to hold the little girl, but she recoiled with a glare. Wheeljack pulled back with a very hurt expression but said nothing.

Lily crossed her arms and set her face in a reproachful scowl. "Why would you go away and leave me?" she demanded. Wheeljack looked at his hands guiltily, biting his lip lightly.

"I… I did something and I'm worried that I'll hurt you. That maybe I already hurt you. I don't want to bring you any harm…" he murmured.

"You will if you go," Lily spat.

"I…" Wheeljack had nothing to say to that.

"You haven't hurt me! Or if you did, I don't care. I don't care if you hurt me later or even now, as long as you stay here I don't care what happens. I don't want you to go away, 'Jack," she said, some rebellious tears escaping on to the landscape of her cheeks.

"Lily…" Wheeljack wrapped his arms around the girl and despite her weak and half-hearted struggles he held her close to his chest. Lily gave up on trying to hold her tears back. She clung to her friend tightly and began crying her eyes out. "I'm sorry, Lily. I never meant for this to happen. I won't leave, I promise. I'll never leave you."

--

Stacey made a movement to go outside after seeing her daughter start to cry. Ratchet, however, held her back at the window of her room.

"I think they need a minute," he said.

Stacey looked at him pleadingly. "But my daughter is crying, Ratchet."

"I know. Wheeljack's being a slagging idiot and he sort of needs Lily to jolt him out of it. I think she's doing a good job," Ratchet said.

"How's he being an idiot?" Stacey asked, turning away from the spectacle in the window with difficulty.

"Oh, he's just blaming himself for things that weren't his fault. The usual sort of thing," the medic said.

"Are they going to be alright?" Stacey asked, nervously pulling at the hem of her shirt.

"Call it a feeling, but they'll be fine. We all will," Ratchet said, smiling.

Stacey sighed and kissed his cheek. "I'm holding you to it."

A/N

Wow. I... can't really believe it's over. Wow.

Well, Maieve Avvi beta'd, so give her a round of aplause, and I shall sit quietly and marvel at the fact it's really done. With any luck, I didn't totally botch the romance scene. I never claimed romance to be my strong point.

Wow.

I don't own Transformers, so don't sue, and please review.


End file.
